If you know me a bit, you know that I'm not exactly an alpha evangelist. Neither am I particularly cut out for managing hordes of raving children, nor for standing up in front of a crowd of them trying to gain and maintain their attention.

But the girls love going to Quartier Libre, and since before it started here I was convinced that it was something I should be involved in. And I've managed to carve out a little niche. Face paints during the 'activities' (one-on-one I can handle), and tidying up during the second part (while everyone else is doing the bit you see in the photo).

Are there mass conversions? I doubt it. But I do believe it's planting tiny little seeds of love, and just for a couple of hours giving these children the gift of our exclusive availability for them.

I do like to cook, and it's even more fun if the kids join in (runs in the family). Finally got round to making some yellow split pea dhal a few weeks ago. (Soup in the background - yup, soup season has started in our household).

Some dear friends gave us a book of cookie recipes years ago. I picked out a few which didn't look too complicated (judged by the number of ingredients!), and Kalia made these coconut macaroons. Unfortunately cooked the too long so they came out more crunchy than chewy.

The fifth (for those who were counting) was one of our favourite easy-peasy recipes: courgettes, fried with smoked salmon pieces, then simmered with mascarpone. No seasoning required really (not even salt, as the salmon is salty enough). Wonderful sauce for your pasta.

Last weekend, when I saw that - despite their worse fears - the girls hadn't died from riding into town, I suggested doing something more ambitious ... and if we made it all the way to the Chateau de Chillon, I'd buy them afternoon tea. Failing that it would be apples and water.

After the knee-jerk "oh nooo!", the decided it might be a good idea after all. And we made it. 10 miles altogther.

Sorry, lazy days here, I could pretty much give up blogging and just redirect you to iMonk all the time! I do have some good photos and stories from this weekend, just need to get my technology lined up.

Meanwhile: "When we talk about the Bible, we are not talking about a “body of knowledge,” but rather a Story that is worked out in messy and mysterious ways. We are talking about a book containing a wide variety of types of literature, put together to give “wisdom,” which is not mathematics; indeed it is the very opposite of formulaic. We are talking about a canon that is designed to promote faith, hope, and love, not precise definitions of God. We are talking about an epic drama that leads, by way of many meandering paths, to the Story of its Hero, Jesus the Messiah of Israel and Lord of all creation."

"I can’t provide the solutions church leaders are looking for, but I can articulate the questions that many in my generation are asking. I can translate some of their angst, some of their hope.

At least that’s what I tried to do when I was recently asked to explain to three thousand evangelical youth workers gathered together for a conference in Nashville, Tennessee, why millennials like me are leaving the church.

I told them we’re tired of the culture wars, tired of Christianity getting entangled with party politics and power. Millennials want to be know by what we’re for, I said, not just what we’re against. We don’t want to choose between science and religion or between our intellectual integrity and our faith. Instead, we long for our churches to be safe places to doubt, to ask questions, and to tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. We want to talk about the tough stuff — biblical interpretation, religious pluralism, sexuality, racial reconciliation, and social justice — but without predetermined conclusions or simplistic answers. We want to bring our whole selves through the church doors, without leaving our hearts and minds behind, without wearing a mask.

I explained that when our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender friends aren’t welcome at the table, then we don’t feel welcome either, and that not every young adult gets married or has children, so we need to stop building our churches around categories and start building them around people. And I told them that, contrary to popular belief, we can’t be won back with hipper worship bands, fancy coffee shops, or pastors who wear skinny jeans. We millennials have been advertised to our entire lives, so we can smell b.s. from a mile away. The church is the last place we want to be sold another product, the last place we want to be entertained.

Millennials aren’t looking for a hipper Christianity, I said. We’re looking for a truer Christianity, a more authentic Christianity. Like every generation before ours and every generation after, we’re looking for Jesus — the same Jesus who can be found in the strange places he’s always been found: in bread, in wine, in baptism, in the Word, in suffering, in community, and among the least of these.

No coffee shops or fog machines required."

And in the comments: "I’ve come to believe that the defining ethos of Evangelicalism today is two-fold: Revivalism (the appeal to the will) and enthusiasm (the promise to find God apart from Word and Sacrament). These are a plague on the church and destroy the faith of many. Until Evangelicalism recovers a more faithful way to be Protestant apart from these, I am convinced that it will be unable to compete in today’s information age where people become cynical much more quickly." Ouch!.